HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAVY!

Age Range: 4 - 7

Pub Date: Oct. 1st, 2000ISBN: 0-7358-1345-0Publisher: NorthSouth

The seventh title in the Davy series finds the little rabbit counting down the days until his birthday in a gentle story that’s once again ably abetted by Tharlet’s soft-edged, cozy watercolors. If given three wishes, Davy would wish for someone “who always had time to tell stories,” would “teach us more games,” and “had lots of time to spend with me.” When his birthday finally arrives, his parents hide Davy’s final present in the burrow because it’s too large to wrap. Davy must search for it, and what should he find behind the larder door, in a deliciously warm-toned, full-spread illustration, but the answer to all three of his wishes—his grandparents! They’ve brought “a whole sackful of time” and Davy’s multitudinous siblings also benefit from hearing the stories read from a big new book, learning the games Grandpa and Granny played when they were young, as well as hearing stories about their grandparents’ childhood pranks and good times. How does a child say thanks for all that? Davy proposes to reverse the gift: “I will come and be your birthday present,” he declares to his grandparents, a notion highly agreeable to them. A warm, intergenerational family story, a sure story-hour hit. (Picture book. 4-7)